Tuesday, August 12, 2008

You might be
tempted to think - on the 'stopped watch being right twice a day' axiom
- that the Cheney administration might actually pick a winner from time
to time. Darth 'dick' Cheney and his minions are supposed to be
reasonably educated: Darth ducked any military involvement in Vietnam
in order to continue his education, after all.

Seriously - they picked Georgia
as a candidate to give Russia a bloody nose? You're kidding.

Aaaah, Dearest Reader: you're making the mistake of confusing
ends with means. Darth and his minions dont give a flying rat's arse if
Georgia surrenders tomorrow, so long as Russia is tied up in the
Caucasus and as a result finds it difficult to intervene in Iran.

Astute folks who look at maps will realise that if the
Russians re-integrate Georgia - which they might well decide
to do since their retaliatory invasion seems to be going quite well -
the only thing between Russia and Iran would be Armenia, which is
friendly to both Russia and Iran. You might argue that Azerbaijan is in the
way... but just make a veer left at Ararat and a right at Angeghakoti
and you can cross direct into Iran at Meghri - without having to climb
too much (steep mountains are hell for armour - as the Soviets found
Afghanistan).

Besides, Azerbaijan is hardly a US client state...

Anyhoooo... the overarching question is this: given that a Russian decision to
hold Georgia would increase Russia's leverage over European energy
markets (particularly oil an gas), why have global energy markets not
responded?

To
which I reply... you left out the key word which ought to be right at
the end: YET.

Major Market Indices

The broad market - the All Ordinaries (XAO)
- advanced modestly, rising 16.3 points (0.32%), finishing at 5085.6
points. The index hit an intraday high of 5106.2 at about 2 pm, while
the low for the day was 5049.6 - set at 10:45 am Sydney time. Almost
all of the interesting intraday action happened between 1 p.m. and 2
p.m.; funny how stuff happens at lunchtime on low-volume days.

Speaking of low volume - was everyone asleep on Strayan
trading desks, or what? Total volume traded on the ASX was 1.07bn
units, 9.7% below its 10-day average. The ASX's daily listing of all
stocks included 1333 different 3-letter FPO's which traded (i.e., had
non-zero trade volume). Of these, 402 issues rose, with volume in
rising issues totalling 372.8m units; decliners numbered 629 counters,
and between them they traded aggregate declining volume of 568.2m
shares.

Of the 493 All Ordinaries components, 170 rose while 247 fell.
Volume was tilted in favour of the losers by a margin of 1.4:1, with
312.31m shares traded in gainers while 443.73m shares traded in the
day's losers.

The Index that forms the cash basis for the SFE's Share Price
Index Futures - the S&P/ASX 200 (XJO)
- posted a modest rise of 22.3 points (0.44%), closing out the session
at 5048.4 points. Big caps up, small caps down... boy that story gets
old fast.

The "heavy hitters" of the Australian market - the ASX
20 Leaders (XTL)
- performed solidly, in moving up 30.1 points (1.06%), closing out the
session at 2882.5 points.

The 20 stocks which make up the index traded a total of
139.47m units; 15 index components rose, with rising volume amounting
to 72.99m shares, while the 5 decliners had volume traded totalling
66.48m units. The major percentage gainers within the index were

Stockland (SGP),
+$0.21 (3.98%) to $5.48 on volume of 4.3 million shares;

QBE Insurance Group Limited (QBE),
+$0.77 (3.28%) to $24.25 on volume of 2.5 million shares;

St George Bank Limited (SGB),
+$0.96 (3.18%) to $31.19 on volume of 4.1 million shares;

National Australia Bank Limited (NAB),
+$0.72 (2.8%) to $26.44 on volume of 7.4 million shares; and

AMP Limited (AMP),
+$0.16 (2.33%) to $7.02 on volume of 6.9 million shares.

On the less salubrious side of the big-cap fence, the
following stocks were the worst-performed within the index:

ANZ Banking Group Limited (ANZ),
-$0.25 (1.41%) to $17.53 on volume of 10 million shares;

Brambles Limited (BXB),
-$0.07 (0.79%) to $8.77 on volume of 4.1 million shares;

Commonwealth Bank Of Australia (CBA),
-$0.28 (0.63%) to $44.20 on volume of 5.1 million shares; and

Wesfarmers Limited (WES),
-$0.15 (0.42%) to $35.35 on volume of 1.1 million shares.

The ASX Small Ordinaries (XSO)
is without doubt the only place where non-mania excess returns
lie undiscovered (and they're not widespread). The tidddlers stayed
underwater today while the Top20 posted a gain. The Small Ords
registered a loss of 30.7 points (1.08%), closing out the session at
2824.2 points.

Among the stocks that make up the Small Caps index, 63 index
components finished to the upside, and of the rest, 115 closed lower
for the session.

The 195 stocks which make up the index traded a total of 240.5m units:
volume in the 63 gainers totalling 51.61m shares, with trade totalling
159.84m units in the index's 115 declining components. The major
percentage gainers within the index were

Market Breadth

GICS Industry Indices

Among the 11 industry indices, 7 registered an advance for the
session, the remaining 4 lost ground.

The best performing index was Property Trusts
(XPJ),
which added 30.7 points (2.12%) to 1479 points. The 21 stocks which
make up the index traded a total of 116.6m units; 16 index components
rose, with rising volume amounting to 108.52m shares, while the 4
decliners had volume traded totalling 7.38m units. The major percentage
gainers within the index were

Valad Property Group (VPG),
+$0.04 (6.14%) to $0.61 on volume of 8.4 million shares;

Centro Properties Group (CNP),
+$0.02 (5.66%) to $0.28 on volume of 8 million shares;

Dexus Property Group (DXS),
+$0.08 (5.26%) to $1.60 on volume of 12.2 million shares;

Mirvac Group (MGR),
+$0.15 (5.07%) to $3.11 on volume of 6.4 million shares; and

Stockland (SGP),
+$0.21 (3.98%) to $5.48 on volume of 4.3 million shares.

Second in the index leadership stakes was Information
Technology (XIJ),
otherwise known as CPU and IRE. Today the index gained 8.9
points (1.62%) to 558.7 points.backed only by CPU's 2% rise pon volume
of 1.67m shares.

Computershare Limited (CPU),
+$0.20 (2.05%) to $9.95 on volume of 1.7 million shares.

The bronze medal for today goes to Healthcare
(XHJ),
which climbed 127 points (1.4%) to 9195.9 points. The 8 stocks which
make up the index traded a total of 9.6m units; 4 index components
rose, with rising volume amounting to 5.64m shares, while the 4
decliners had volume traded totalling 3.95m units. The major percentage
gainers within the index were

ResMed Inc. (RMD),
+$0.16 (3.27%) to $5.05 on volume of 2.3 million shares;

CSL Limited (CSL),
+$0.84 (2.19%) to $39.14 on volume of 2.2 million shares;

The worst-performed index for the session was Energy
(XEJ),
which dipped 205.3 points (1.26%) to 16123.8 points. The 17 stocks
which make up the index traded a total of 54.52m units; The 13
decliners had volume traded totalling 48.91m units, and 4 index
components rose, with rising volume amounting to 5.61m shares, The
major percentage decliners within the index were

Third-to-last amongst the sector indices was Industrials
(XNJ),
which slid 19.6 points (0.39%) to 4964.9 points. The 32 stocks which
make up the index traded a total of 75.6m units; The 19 decliners had
volume traded totalling 38.72m units, and 12 index components rose,
with rising volume amounting to 34.69m shares, The major percentage
decliners within the index were

Macquarie Infrastructure Group (MIG),
-$0.11 (4%) to $2.64 on volume of 12.3 million shares;